TPTE Faculty News

Four TPTE faculty were among eight recipients from UT’s Office of Research 2012–2013 Outreach and Engagement Incentive Grants:

Lynn Hodge, associate professor in mathematics education, $522, Family School and Community Partnerships in Mathematics, with Central High School in Knox County, to offer a Family Math Night to familiarize parents and students with Common Core Math Standards and promote understanding and appreciation of high quality math teaching among parents and students.

Susan Groenke, associate professor in English education (with faculty from UT’s English Department and Writing Center), $2,000, Crossing the Bridge to Academic Discourse: A Collaborative Exploration of What High School Seniors Need to Know to Write Well in First-Year College Composition Courses will bring together UT first-year composition instructors with twelfth-grade English teachers in Knox County Schools to examine error patterns of first-year college students and explore methods to better prepare students for success in college composition.

Clara Lee Brown, associate professor, ESL education (with a PhD candidate in English), $1860, Family Literacy for a Multi-lingual Community: Helping Parents, Helping Children will promote literacy skills for children and parents in Lenoir City, Tennessee. Parents will learn strategies to help them serve as “literacy coaches” for their children.

Stephanie Cramer, assistant professor, art education (with Bob Kronick, educational and counseling psychology), $600, Making Art Side by Side with Students Participating in University-Assisted Community Schools. UT graduate students will work side-by-side and one-on-one with students from Pond Gap Elementary School on art projects that will be exhibited at the Beck Cultural Arts and Exchange Center in Knoxville.

Eugene Fitzhugh, associate professor, Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies
With the Safe Routes to School Partnership/Knox County Health Department and Knox County Schools. Proposal Title: Physical Activity Assessment in the Real World: A Safe Routes to School Learning Experience for Kinesiology Students. Abstract: This service learning project will involve undergraduate kinesiology in partnering with the Knox County Safe Routes to School Coalition in evaluating the effectiveness of a ‘Walking School Bus’ intervention designed to increase walking to schools at six area elementary schools. The students will learn how to apply direct observation techniques in assessing physical activity as well as being exposed to direct physical activity-related interventions targeting elementary school-aged children and their parents.